John Siracusa: "On paper, the Mac Pro may no longer be a viable product, but it would be a mistake for Apple to abandon the concept that it embodies. Like the Power Mac before it, the Mac Pro was designed to be the most powerful personal computer Apple knows how to make. That goal should be maintained, even as the individual products that aim to achieve it evolve." I agree wholeheartedly. The Mac Pro - and the PowerMac before it - are amazing products, and I would be quite sad to see them go. They may not always lead the pack in performance, but when it comes to sheer engineering and interior design, they are among the very best. I have zero need for a Mac Pro, but to this day, I always take a few minutes to admire it whenever I pay a visit to my Apple retailer.

I bought a Mac Pro in 2006 (Model 1,1) knowing it cost more money. The reason why was I wanted a case that was easy to access, silent, and ran Mac OS X. At the time Windows XP was not robust enough for heavy duty workstation needs, and I got tired of dealing with X-Windows (video) issues in Linux. I still use this same Mac Pro today, and it runs great. It currently runs Snow Leopard (10.6) because I think it is the best Mac OS X version IMHO, plus this Mac has a 32-bit EFI, which apple refuses to upgrade to 64-bit to allow me to install Mountain Lion if I so chose which fixed all of Lions issues. It has 2 CPU's (4-2.66 ghz cores total), 16 gig ECC memory (can increase to 32 GIG), SSD boot drive, and 7 other hard drives (3 internal, 4 external using EATA). This machine is silent, stable, and as lighting fast, even in today's standards. So I never regret this past purchase due to longevity, but I do admit if I did it over again in today's time I would strongly consider Windows 7 or a recent Linux because they have gotten so much better since 2006. But the Mac Pro I bought 7 years later is still a great looking computer and being silent is a plus. It has been one of the best machines I have owned, and plan on using it until it dies. So if someone decided to purchase a Mac Pro as a long term purchase, I wouldn't criticize them at all even if it costs a little more.